Jointer flatness . . . did I go far enough ?

[Ttrees]

Mike,
It depends if the OP intended to set it up to have a tight mouth to combat tearout, instead of eliminating it, I suppose.
It looks like the OP has a nice stretch on the paper, and looks like it was kept clean during the lapping process.
That's why I said it was good to go.

 

[MikeG.]

Mike,
It depends if the OP intended to set it up to have a tight mouth to combat tearout, instead of eliminating it, I suppose.
It looks like the OP has a nice stretch on the paper, and looks like it was kept clean during the lapping process.
That's why I said it was good to go.

No it doesn't. The question was about the flatness of the sole." Is it flat enough?" That question doesn't involve the cap iron.........however much you want it to.

 

[D_W]

DW, my comment wasn't aimed at you. it was aimed at someone saying that planing straight/flat with a jointer is only to do with the cap setting and nothing to do with technique, and in the same sentence stating he had never used his jointer. Indeed he was 100% certain. I think that fits the description perfectly. Personally I'm only 80% certain about things I've been doing for thirty years.

Me, too!! (on the 80% certain). It may be less than that. I've learned over the years, three things, though:
1) concluding that you've learned enough that you can stop questioning or debating is a toxic thought. It leads to lack of progress, which leads to disinterest.
2) if you are willing to stick your neck out and be proven wrong, you'll learn a lot more. Sticking your neck out and making an assertion can cause a scuffle.
3) if you argue with someone who is not doing work similar to what you're doing (for example, if machine work and sanding is 95% of what someone does and you're arguing about efficient planing), you're never going to agree with them and they're never going to test what you say, but the next time you post, they might heckle your post.

I get what Ttrees was saying, in his case, that the ability of the cap iron to stay in the cut evenly from start to finish has been more helpful than a long sole (it probably is, as long as you don't go nuts and argue that a stanley 1 with the cap set is an appropriate jointer). I think most won't follow that. Hopefully rudimentary things like keeping a plane square on the cut, adjusting the iron laterally so that the cut is the same thickness from side to side, biasing pressure at the beginning and end of cut, etc....all of those things should sort of be reflex. If they aren't initially, anyone doing an appreciable amount of work will come to them by laziness.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

](*,) :lol:

 

[D_W]

Was it in a thread about the sole of a plane? If so, you shouldn't have received flack.

Both in threads about sole flatness, and in videos about flattening planes (and the absurd statement that is sometimes made that this work can't be done in a shop, but needs to be sent out to a machinist).

(videos that I posted on youtube, suggesting the same thing I did here - if you can't do dead flat, bias the plane in your favor as a user).

One person told me they were sure that I was wrong, because they're an engineer and they can physically flex a plane more than 2 thousandths if they suspend it on two boards. Which is sort of a dumb argument, because it doesn't answer whether or not the plane will plane a flat surface without clipping the edges off of a board (the answer to that is no - not even in a lie nielsen 8 that is only 1 1/2 thousandths hollow - still in spec - it'll be a pain to create a long sprung joint). A plane that is 2 thousandths proud at the toe and heel (instead of the opposite) is an absolute joy to use.

You generally can't provide any advice on the internet without saying "YMMV", which is a garbage out.

 

[Paddy Roxburgh]

The cap iron is sort of like driving a stickshift in the city and then finding out that an automatic is available and using it. You still have to be able to drive, but if you ever go to a city with bad traffic and drive a car with a tall first gear and a stickshift, you'll fall in love with an automatic.
.

DW, just an aside, hardly anyone in the UK drives automatics, they do exist but are a rarity, probably because they are inefficient and fuel is about treble the price here compared to the US. A quick google search suggests that 96% of cars sold in the US last year were automatic whereas in the UK about 17% (tbh 17% is surprisingly high).
Anyway back to the real topic, will cap iron's end world poverty?

 

[D_W]

Not only will it end world poverty, but it will merge all of the world's religions into one, including agnosticism and atheism, and eliminate political parties.

 

[mikey78]

HI,
I'm the OP :wink: ...
Thankyou for all replies, having worked the sole to a certain degree of flatness
that we "all" feel like being enough, you guys have pretty much answered my question !!!
....
Pages following the first one take a different route,
not that much related with the title of the topic :?
...
Nevertheless I understand that planing a board flat is not only a matter of sole flatness,
but is also an art that involves different aspects such as cap iron setting :idea: . . .
At the moment I think I just need to use my jointer and see how it behave,
when I'll have enough experience maybe I'll consider also other aspects of a handplane mechanic,
such as cap iron setting but, at the moment, this thing just add more doubts #-o

Thanks anyway to ALL OF YOU for sharing your knowledge

 

[D_W]

Find some nice agreeable wood that's less than the width of your iron and see if you can plane it flat. If it's convex in the middle, stop shavings between the ends and then a through shaving.

You're ready for the cap iron sooner than you think, but certainly test the plane first. The rules of cap setting are thus:
* if you have tearout, it's not close enough
* if you don't have tearout, but your shaving is jamming or being turned into a folded accordion, it's too close
* anything between those two is awfully good and will really help you out
* the set itself (how far the cap is from the edge) is a function of how thick of a shaving you want to take, but you don't have to reset it often, usually just once each time you put the blade back in the plane. Discussion of why that is most productive can be saved for another day.

You have done a good job flattening your plane sole, and I think in the long run, you'll be very satisfied that you did if you want to do fine work with it.